Hi everyone! It’s been two weeks since I returned from Chile, and I still haven’t settled back into my “real” life. I feel so connected to this whole other world, thats only a plane ride away (granted a long one, but still). Sure my mounting work load at school has something to do with this but more than that my mind really hasn’t absorbed everything I learned. People ask me “Omg Mikayla! How was your trip?” I smile and say amazing, telling them the flashy details that any good trip out of the country has: the sights, the food, the shopping, the language, the culture and the overall feeling you get while being there. But this trip was way more unique than some average vacation. No one will ever know all the experiences I had, except maybe Abiba.
If I would have to describe it, I would call it more than anything else a massive learning experience. I found learning about Chile’s history and culture to be quite interesting. I got so much more out of it then I ever could from the internet or a history book. Every day the people made a huge effort to teach us about the human rights violations of Pinochet regime and the effects it had on their country. So, every day I visited a museum or a memorial of the people that were tortured and killed under this harsh dictator. And after every event all the girls, as well as adults from Chile, Sri Lanka and US would dialog about our thoughts on the issues that were brought up. This in it of itself was quite difficult, as we needed many translators to understand one another in Tamil, Spanish and English. Overall, the trip was a full on brain work out. I had to not only digest very harsh accounts, but also convey to all these new people my opinions, while representing the US. You would think that this was very stressful. But for the most part I knew what I signed up for and enjoyed every minute of it.
The second point to program (in addition to learning about human rights violations) was to create relationships among girls around the world to show that everywhere there are people who care about the past, and who want to help make a better impact on the future. And so, I worked hard to converse (roughly) with these amazing girls who I would have never met in another abroad situation. I learned about their daily lives, families, favorites things and in return taught them about some of mine. Walking around the city with them was in a way effortless. Even though on paper we were all so different, we were all united with our common goal of bettering ourselves as girls, from the knowledge of the world around us. Its hard to describe, but in many ways I feel more connected to them than half the people at my school, who known more about who I am simply because we live in the same culture. But, I can honestly say I created friendships with them that have made me become a better person. I will always have the memories we created together and I hope I never lose sight of what they mean to me.
If I would have to describe it, I would call it more than anything else a massive learning experience. I found learning about Chile’s history and culture to be quite interesting. I got so much more out of it then I ever could from the internet or a history book. Every day the people made a huge effort to teach us about the human rights violations of Pinochet regime and the effects it had on their country. So, every day I visited a museum or a memorial of the people that were tortured and killed under this harsh dictator. And after every event all the girls, as well as adults from Chile, Sri Lanka and US would dialog about our thoughts on the issues that were brought up. This in it of itself was quite difficult, as we needed many translators to understand one another in Tamil, Spanish and English. Overall, the trip was a full on brain work out. I had to not only digest very harsh accounts, but also convey to all these new people my opinions, while representing the US. You would think that this was very stressful. But for the most part I knew what I signed up for and enjoyed every minute of it.
The second point to program (in addition to learning about human rights violations) was to create relationships among girls around the world to show that everywhere there are people who care about the past, and who want to help make a better impact on the future. And so, I worked hard to converse (roughly) with these amazing girls who I would have never met in another abroad situation. I learned about their daily lives, families, favorites things and in return taught them about some of mine. Walking around the city with them was in a way effortless. Even though on paper we were all so different, we were all united with our common goal of bettering ourselves as girls, from the knowledge of the world around us. Its hard to describe, but in many ways I feel more connected to them than half the people at my school, who known more about who I am simply because we live in the same culture. But, I can honestly say I created friendships with them that have made me become a better person. I will always have the memories we created together and I hope I never lose sight of what they mean to me.
RSS Feed